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16 HASKINS & SELLS February
The first half of the book is devoted to a
partial justification of our money and
profits system, wherein it is pointed out that
the profit incentive is probably the most
satisfactory motive for individual effort and
initiative; that profits and losses are a
necessary result of the business risks which
are inherent in a progressive society; and
that competition must remain in our
economic order, together with security of
private property. The last part deals with
adverse criticisms of our economic system
demonstrating, among other things, that
the present money and profit economy does
not enable consumers, year in and year out,
to obtain the required money to buy goods
quite as rapidly as they are produced,
which is necessary to attain the desired
economic aim of constantly advancing the
material well-being of the people generally;
and that there is consequently no possi­bility
of sustained economic progress, and
extreme alternations of prosperity and de­pression
are inevitable.
It is contended that consumer buying
does not keep pace with production for two
reasons: first, because approximately one-half
of all industrial profits are invested in
increasing production rather than dis­bursed
to consumers to buy the goods
already produced; second, because con­sumers,
under the necessity of saving,
cannot spend even as much money as they
receive. Dollars saved instead of spent are
used to a large extent for the production of
more goods, thereby increasing the differ­ence
between production and consumption.
One of the more important factors which
tends to make up for the deficit in con­sumer
buying is the expansion of the
volume of money. However, the money is
expanded mainly to facilitate the produc­tion,
rather than the consumption of goods,
and the goods must be sold to consumers
for more money than the expansion has
provided.
Although the authors analyze and discuss
the problems without offering a solution,
the general statement is made that our
greatest economic need to sustain a for­ward
movement in business is adequate
consumer purchasing power. This con­templates
a flow of money to consumers
which, after providing for savings, would
always be approximately equal to the flow
of finished goods.
The book differs from the average dis­cussion
of economic principles in that the
terminology used is well adapted for those
who are more practical minded. It is one
of a series of publications of the Pollak
Foundation for Economic Research, which
offers a prize of $5,000 for the best adverse
riticism of the arguments advanced.
News Items
Colonel Carter returned from Europe
on January 25, on the S.S. Berengaria,
after spending a month visiting our Lon­don,
Paris, and Berlin offices.
Mr. Forbes returned from the Orient
early in January after having assisted in
the opening of our new office located in
the Pacific Building, Manila. He also
visited Shanghai and several cities in
Japan in connection with other profes­sional
matters.
Mr. C. M . Doiseau, of the systems
division of the Technical Procedure De­partment,
has resigned to become vice-president
of The Cambridge Tile Manu­facturing
Company, Covington, Kentucky.
Mr. H. W. Scott, of our Detroit office,
recently has received the C. P. A. certifi­cate
of the State of Michigan, as a result
of the November, 1926, examination.
Mr. E. K. Ford, of our Philadelphia
staff, also is to be congratulated upon
passing the November, 1926, C. P. A.
examination of the State of Pennsylvania.
PRESS OF WILLIAM GREEN, NEW YORK